Good to see mah man Hayden getting runs thesedays. Him and Langer have both been going well.

And that's the strength of the Aussies... even if they do have a collapse, someone makes up for it and they end up with 400+ anyway. Most other teams, if they have a middle order collapse, ending up whimpering to a meagre 250 or 300.

Well the Aussies won the Rugby League ashes series this morning. Chris Anderson was taken to hospital at half time with more heart troubles and I'm betting the Sharks are nervous with him about to take up a big contract there next year.

The Knights players did it again really. But it was good to see Barrett and Kearns add a bit today. Johns has been doing it all on his ear so far on the tour with no help form the likes of Fittler (who is over-rated) and Lockyer (did the Queenslanders here see the first game?)

Was there ever a thread about the Knights' great win? Are there any Parramatta fans on here? If so, good. You can have the minor premiership if that means we're the major premiers!

What about my fantastic win in the tipping competition? Hmmmmmm!!!!

Cricket is getting to the joke stage these days. Seeing how the sub continent whinges whenever anything goes against them (even when rightly so this week) I can't see much unity between individual cricket associations and the ICC. What the hell is a suspended sentence for cheating? Pakistan should also be warned about excessive appealing.

Did anyone see that Brett Lee and Shoab Aktar are now on the same club team? They're scheduled to play together after the new year for the first time. Imagine opening for the opposition that day. Even if one is a chucker.

I'd get up tomorrow morning to watch the soccer, but I'd fall asleep as soon as I start watching it. Actually, what time is it on? They should only be about 11 hours behind us.

Tom, I didn't say Australia has no skill, I'm saying I would have liked to see em score like they did in the friendly against France. But I'll be up at 5 in the morning (going to see the game at a mates house), so here's hoping the Aussies pull through!

It's 2:13am now. I think I'll just stay up and watch it. Heh. I don't have to work tomorrow, so I can sleep after it's finished.

Speaking of the Sharks... Kimmorley and Preston Campbell in the same team? Mang, Preston should just move to Brisbane. He can play Half Back up here. I'd rather him than Alfie... I mean, he's a league god and all, but, I dunno if he can still perform week in, week out for a whole season. Good to see Brad Thorn coming back, though.

Thorn couldn't hack it in Rugby so it wasn't a big surprise to see him back.

It's a sticky situation at the Sharks next year. Campbell was all over most half backs last year, but Anderson and Kimmorley are butt buddies from Melbourne. Anderson still coached the Aussie team for Kimmorley in the first test, that being: flat offensive line, despite that Johns was still the only player to look dangerous. The second and third tests were different stories, and thank god Lockyer was kept out of the play a bit more.

1-0 to home side in the soccer. I'm hanging out for penalties. The only TRUELY exciting aspect of soccer. Don't give me any crap about winning or losing isn't as good with it. If you don't want to play penalties, win the damn game in regulation.

Thorn got selected for the All Blacks tour of Europe, but turned it down because he was uncertain of his future. Not many players could do that.

Uraguay thoroughly deserved their victory. It's a ****** way to go down, though... again. But they've got the highest player in the world, among a few other very quality players... and they could have easily had 5 goals notched against up against us. Viduka just didn't get the chances he needs. At Leeds he has a quality midfield and wingmen supplying him with crosses... eh, Australia doesn't have that. After Kewell, there's a huge leap down in skill. We have adequate players, but not enough match winners.

That being said, I think Australia is a better team than a lot of those teams already qualified. I mean, we drew 1-1 with the World Champions. That's gotta show for something. I think FIFA needs to work out a better system to allow for the BEST 32 teams to qualify. Sure, we didn't beat the 5th best team in South America... but we need more of a chance to compete with the likes of those teams for a longer period -- not just 2 games. I mean, Uraguay have lost 2 out of THEIR last 6 or so games. A team needs to prove themselves over a period of time against quality opposition to qualify. We don't have the opportunity to do that. 20-0 scorelines don't help us, AT ALL in the qualifying stages.

So, yeh, guess we have to wait another 4 years. Heh. Oh well -- GO ENGLAND.

Campbell will more than likely be forced to where the number 2 jersey since he plays there in defence anyway. His too small in the line, he's ONLY weakness. On offence he'll be forced wider with Kimmorley and Matthew Johns there now. Maybe the best example for me to give you would be a Matt Gidley style of game. Taking it out wide but using quick feet to get around his man or maybe being forced into the middle and allowing him to step through a gap. They're both not true centres, yet aren't really halves either.

It's a real pity Kimmorley will be there now. Johns would've been an interesting partner in the middle. A calming influence was what he needed after a steller year that ended in disappointment. Now this drama will have a negative impact on his game and career. It could be the end to another exciting aboriginal players' game.

Hopefully there'll be a decent back rower out there with him to feed. The Sharks will be an interesting team next year for sure.

Wasn't the lack of world class matches the Socceroo's last world cup failure's excuse? They got France this time and drew with them, but when it REALLY counts they have no pride or passion for Australia. They spend 10 days a year here and then expect everyone to fall over themselves to support them. Hopefully this latest failure will spell the end of Soccer Australia.

It really was a disappointment to see Aust lose. They played a LOT better than I expected them to. I really did think that we had a chance of winning, but the inability for the team to settle in the first half just stuffed em up for the rest of the game. They played really well in the second half. I thought we might have had ourselves a goal when Viduka had that header in front of the goals but...nope.

I guess this means that next year we won't get many World Cup games played on free-to-air TV. That'll suck, I'll miss waking up at some awkward time in the morning to catch a live game on SBS.